Quality of life in caregivers of a family member with serious mental illness: Evidence from China

Purpose

To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) and social support among family caregivers of a family member with a mental illness and to identify factors associated with the QoL.

首发精神障碍家庭照顾者经历的系统评价

目的：系统评价首发精神障碍家庭照顾者的经历，为患者早期康复及照顾者心理健康问题的干预提供循证依据。方法：计算机检索The Cochrane Library、Ovid 、PubMed、Embase、Web of Science、CBM、CNKI、VIP和WANFANG DATE 数据库，检索时限均从建库至2021年7月31日，使用“JBI循证卫生保健中心质性研究质量评价标准”评价符合纳入标准的文献，并采用汇集性整合法对研究结果进行整合。结果：纳入12篇文献，提炼出60个研究结果，整理成8个类别，得出3个整合结果。分别是多维度的挑战、成长或缺如的角色结局、急需的社会支持。结论：亟需提高全民心理健康素质及去精神障碍疾病污名化，营造患者及家属无障碍化就医环境；关注家庭照顾者早期心理健康的干预，满足其社会支持的需要，提高该类人群应激应对能力，促进照顾者心理康复。     

Should I care for my mum or for my kid? Sandwich generation and depression burden in Italy

Setting and objectiveIn Italy, over the last decades, elderly care has been mostly provided by family members, especially adult offspring, and in particular daughters. This paper investigates the relationship between informal caregiving and mental distress among Italians aged 35–59, with a focus on gender effect and parenthood responsibilities.DataThe dataset is the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), second wave, year 2015. As far as it is known, the Italian EHIS has not been used for studies on ageing and caregiving.MethodsUsing selected subsamples, a Propensity Score Matching between caregivers and non-caregivers aged 35–59 is implemented, with the aim of measuring the difference in level of depression, if any, between the two groups.ResultsFindings show that women providing their frail relatives with informal care are less likely to suffer from mental distress compared to non-carers. However, results change radically if they have children aged less than 15 at home, and a higher probability of being depressed is detected for women overwhelmed by the double responsibility of assisting both dependent relatives and their own children. Results are not significant for men.